By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

Shopping for a wedding gift used to be something that I looked forward to. My most recent “gift shopping” experience involved scanning a QR code where I was then directed to a website to choose the appropriate item and clicking to send. Wow! So very anticlimactic. Where is the fun in that?

My first memory of going shopping for a wedding gift was at Dedeke’s in downtown New Braunfels. It was a beautiful store full of beautiful things. Tables were dressed in the finest table linens and perfectly set with china, silver and crystal to tempt any bride. The walls were lined with china place settings of nearly every pattern and color. Another part of that memory is the stern warning from my mother not to touch anything. I watched as my mother carefully selected a crystal pitcher and handed it to the clerk. It was so gratifying to walk out with our specially chosen, professionally wrapped gift to deliver in person.

Dedeke’s Housewares was a small store on Seguin Avenue that specialized in gifts and bridal registries in the 1950s-70s, but their story began much earlier. Richard F. Dedeke was born in New Braunfels in 1878. His grandfather, a farmer, had emigrated from Hannover in 1846. Richard’s father was a farmer and saddle maker. Richard was ambitious and in 1903, he sought his own fortunes in a thriving rural community of 200 people on York Creek. He purchased three lots in Hunter, Texas, between Grand and Railroad (now JC Riley) Streets to establish a residence and general merchandise store. A downturn in the cotton economy caused many of the Hunter businesses to close, including Dedeke’s General Store.

In 1928, R.F. Dedeke opened a new store in New Braunfels. The store was part of the ‘M’ System grocery chain. It opened at 215 S. Seguin Ave. (in the same brick building as The Oyster Bar). ‘M’ System was marketed as a new, self-serve way of shopping with multiple brand choices (as opposed to having a clerk bring a single brand from the shelf behind the counter). It sounds like the beginning of our current supermarket system.

R.F. Dedeke retired from his grocery business in 1951, and then the fun began. Richard’s son, Leslie Dedeke, and his siblings, Dorothy and Edward Dedeke opened Dedeke’s Housewares in the same location. In 1966, nearly a century after it was built, property at 173 S. Seguin Ave. was completely restored and the Dedeke family reopened the gift shop there. That is the beautiful store from my childhood. Even the patterned floor tiles were beautiful, but it was not beautiful before remodeling.

The Heinrich Krause building, located at 173 S. Seguin, already had a long history. The original part was built in the 1860s by Friedrich Krause and his son, Frederick Krause, who brought their carpentry skills with them from Germany. The first 45-foot section of the 24-foot-wide building (nearest to the street) is the oldest, built with squared cedar timbers. The next 45-foot section is of German Fachwerk, built with squared lumber. It had a small basement with rock walls and exposed square cedar timbers.

During the previous one hundred years, the one-story Krause building saw a lot of tenants. It was used by Weber & Deutsch, as an early general store; as an opera house; as a drill hall for a Texas Militia unit; as a blouse factory; as a barber shop and a newspaper office for Town & Country News. The Dedeke’s attention to detail and dedication to correct historical preservation of Krause building helped garner a Texas Historical Marker for the building, as well as honors from the New Braunfels Conservation Society.

In 1976, Dick and Bonnie Denson purchased the Dedeke’s business and it became Denson-Dedeke’s. In 1977, they also bought the entire property extending all the way to Comal Avenue, including the historic Krause building, the adjacent two-story Hoffmann building (on the left side of Denson-Dedeke), the parking lot in back, and the Mergele House on Comal.

In 1979, Sami’s Jewelry opened a kiosk at the front of Denson’s, near the windows. The large storage space in the back of the store was opened to create the perfect home for Marian Benson’s The Collection.

In 1981, the interior of the adjacent Mergele Building, was completely gutted by fire that spread from Ludwig Leather Company (two doors down from Denson’s). Fortunately, the tin roof and separation between the buildings prevented fire from damaging Denson’s. To prevent the building from being torn down, the Denson’s bought the Mergele Building and rebuilt the interior, preserving our Seguin Avenue merchant district. They opened up the walls between the two buildings and expanded their footprint again.

Upstairs in the Mergele Building, above retail space, were the Denson-Dedeke offices, and the very first home of Celebrations Bridal by Connie Worley. By incorporating three historic buildings with a courtyard and promoting complimentary retail tenants, Dick and Bonnie Denson successfully created a boutique shopping experience in a historic setting which eventually became Landmark Square.

The Mergele Building was sold to new owners in 1996. The rest of the property, including the Krause building, the Hoffmann building and the Mergele House on Comal Avenue, was sold in 1997 when the Densons retired. The Krause and Hoffmann properties have sold again in 2008 and 2018.

During that time, there have been multiple tenants of the Krause building, including photographers, marketing firms, a lingerie store and most recently a French café bistro.

When we look at historic buildings, we are spoiled and tend to look for the bigger, fancier, more ornate ones, i.e. the Court House (1884) or the row of buildings on San Antonio Street (circa 1890–1924). By doing that, we may be missing out on the hidden jewels (Krause building ca.1860) that make up the foundation of who New Braunfels is. Not slick. Not fancy. Historic.

Enjoy and appreciate the view and the experience, before you can only click on a QR code to see it. Preserve our history!

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

Some stories write themselves. Some, like this one, began as one idea before evolving into something completely different. The idea stemmed from a visit with Myra Lee Adams Goff, (you know, accomplished author and the one that started this column) when she handed me a copy of the The Golden Book of Favorite Songs. I had seen copies of this songbook in the Sophienburg Archives, but never researched it. I took it as a challenge.

The gold-colored 126-page booklet by Hall & McCreary Company, copyrighted in 1915 and 1923, was a favorite keepsake of hers, in part because she sang from the book when she was in school at the Lamar Ward School. A ward is like our attendance zone today. It was also the book used when she began teaching at Lamar Elementary School in 1954. Same school, updated name.

A man by the name of Curt E. Schmidt was named prin­ci­pal of Carl Schurz Ward School in 1931, a year be­fore Myra Lee Adams Goff was born. Schmidt had be­gun his teach­ing ca­reer in 1922 in a one-room school­house in Gille­spie County be­fore teach­ing Eng­lish at New Braun­fels High School. While at Carl Schurz, he earned his law de­gree from St. Mary’s Uni­ver­sity in 1942, leav­ing ed­u­ca­tion to prac­tice law. He re­turned to ed­u­ca­tion as prin­ci­pal of Lamar El­e­men­tary in 1950.

At that time, prin­ci­pals were not re­quired to teach classes, but he of­ten taught art and mu­sic. He was fond of The Golden Book of Fa­vorite Songs. The book was a teacher’s dream, teach­ing mu­sic, his­tory, pa­tri­o­tism, read­ing and re­li­gion all in one. It had songs of every genre: chil­dren’s songs, Christ­mas, Civil War, folk, pa­tri­otic, re­li­gious, Ne­gro “spir­i­tu­als”, with many of the songs’ his­to­ries be­ing given. There were also read­ings or recita­tions: Lin­col­n’s Get­tys­burg Ad­dress, Pledge of Al­le­giance and Twenty-third Psalm. Curt Schmidt led songs from the song­book fre­quently. He or­ches­trated chil­dren’s skits and mu­si­cal pro­grams every year.

Mrs. Goff graduated from Texas Christian University in 1953. Her first teaching job was at Lamar Elementary. Principal Curt E. Schmidt hired her because she could play the piano. She taught music and handwriting to fourth, fifth and sixth graders. She had a degree in secondary education, and there she was, hired to teach music to elementary kids. What’s more, she could not read a lick of music. She played by ear from the age of seven. If she heard it, she could play it.

As Mrs. Goff tells it, at one particular school assembly, while Schmidt was leading songs, he called out a Civil War song on page number sixteen, “Just Before the Battle, Mother.” Well, Mrs. Goff did not know it. She told me that she suffered through, plinking around, pretending, when he finally stopped to ask her what she was playing. She said, “I told you I couldn’t read music.”

I had a natural curiosity about Curt Schmidt. We lived next door to him on Magazine Street for a couple of years up until I was old enough to start school. I never attended school where he was principal. I would later see him orchestrating the Kindermasken Parade when school teachers helped put it on. I thought that the old German dance, Herr Schmidt, was about him. I remember him to be very energetic, almost intense about things. I wondered if my memories about his nature were correct.

Curt Schmidt was an innovator. He was proud of his German heritage and felt strongly about preserving the ways of the ancestors. German language had not been taught in New Braunfels schools since World War I. After thirteen years without German language instruction, Schmidt felt the children needed it. In 1931, he organized German Summer School, devoted entirely to teaching the German language, folkways, folk songs and German pioneer traditions. The number of German School students grew from the initial forty to over three hundred per summer over the years.

The summer program ran until it was crushed by World War II. Since the United States was at war with Germany, everything German became suspect again. Promoting the German language was considered subversive and the German program ended in 1940. You will frequently see the German language textbooks Deutsche Fibel (German Primer) and Erstes Lesebuch (First Reader) that he used in German Summer School in the Sophienburg collection, or estate sales. We have one of each at our house. Schmidt was very persistent. Later, in 1954, as principal of Carl Schurz, he was instrumental in finally getting German and Spanish language electives back into the elementary schools.

Curt Schmidt was ambitious. He first served as principal of Carl Schurz, then after returning from his law practice, he served as principal at Lamar for three years before returning to Carl Schurz. By the time Mrs. Goff returned to teaching after having a family (no pregnant women could teach!), Curt Schmidt was the superintendent of New Braunfels School District. Mrs. Goff’s teaching career led her to Carl Schurz, Lamar and New Braunfels Junior High before authoring her own articles and books to preserve the history of New Braunfels.

Schmidt served as superintendent from 1962 to 1966, during which time he established the first area vocational school in Texas, inaugurated the first Head Start program and established a vocational school of nursing. Overall, he spent forty years as an educator, mostly in New Braunfels. Some loved him, some did not, but he accomplished a lot in his time. He again practiced law from 1970 until his retirement in 1982.

Curt Schmidt loved his German heritage and his community. He was active in Scouting his whole life, earning the Silver Beaver and Scoutmaster Key awards. He was a charter member and past president of the New Braunfels Rotary Club, and active with the Sophienburg Memorial Association. Schmidt wrote and illustrated two books about German Texan pioneers and was the local correspondent to the San Antonio Light for ten years.

I may not have fulfilled my task of writing an article about The Golden Book of Favorite Songs, but in this final year of Lamar Elementary, I have managed to tie together a bunch of things that I did not know about before writing this article: the Songbook, the German primers, German School, Mrs. Goff and Herr Schmidt. It is almost like the Six Degrees of Curt Schmidt. Too much?

Sources: Myra Lee Adams Goff; Sophienburg Musuem and Archives.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

Last week I took on the challenge of finding out about City Lot 89. It is located on the corner of South Seguin Avenue and Coll Street, across from the First Protestant Church. We know it today as the location of Johnson Furniture Co and their lovely, landscaped corner.

This prime real estate was first drawn by lot from the Adelsverein’s land grant by Aloys Rosser in 1848. Rosser sold it to Jacob Winkler in 1850, who quickly flipped it to H. Bevenroth. By 1854, Bevenroth’s estate had sold Lot 89 to Charles Rossy and his wife, and they sold it to Carl Floege. Six owners in six years — I’m guessing that maybe they wanted farmland not city property or perhaps saw a quick way to make some cash.

Carl Floege, a cabinetmaker by trade, immigrated to Texas in 1849. After obtaining Lot 89 in 1854, he built a home and his first general store on the property. He built a much larger, two-story business on Main Plaza (location of Utilities building) and a larger home off Market Plaza. Impressive! More impressive, he used his carpentry skills and know-how to build the first low-water bridge over the Comal at West San Antonio Street (1856), the Torrey Mill bridge on the Comal at Bridge Street (1867) and a new high-water bridge over the Comal (1873) at the location of his former low-water bridge after it had washed away.

Mr. Floege also used his trade to work on the first Comal County Courthouse (1856), a new 66-foot river ferryboat (1859), add rooms to the New Braunfels Academy (1867), deal with city streets and drainage issues (1873-1874), and build numerous stores and homes. Carl could truthfully say he built a lot of old New Braunfels with his two hands.

Carl Floege sold Lot 89 to Rudolph DuMenil in 1858, after the completion of his larger store and home. DuMenil had emigrated from Germany in 1850, and first lived in Hortontown where he ran a meat market for about eight years. In 1858, he moved into the old Floege home and set up his own general merchandising business in the old Floege Store. DuMenil literally sold everything but the kitchen sink — Hungarian grass, bois d’arc saplings for living fence lines, whiskey and brandy, clothing, dry goods, lead and percussion caps, hardware, tobacco products, paint, stoves and kitchenware. Maybe he did sell the sink! Rudolph also sold an ambulance, pianos and did freighting as well as being involved in local education as a trustee at the New Braunfels Academy.

In 1875, DuMenil auctioned off his store inventory and rented the store building to Carl Floege’s son Herman to use as a wagon business. When Herman Floege moved his business elsewhere in 1881, the store was rented to Homans Saddlery/Leather shop.

Lot 89, with the old Floege home and store, was sold by the DuMenils to Cuno “C.J.” Ludewig in 1902. Mr. Ludewig and his brothers had started a furniture business in 1887 at the location of the old Krueger Chevrolet building (across from Granzin Bar-B-Q). C. J. Ludewig took over the business from his brothers and moved it to the Seguin Street property in 1905. The family lived in the old home and ran the furniture company out of the DuMenil store. In 1929, a new “modern” brick building was built next to the old DuMenil store. It had the first elevator in any building in New Braunfels. Almost 3,500 townspeople attended the new store opening event where souvenir ashtrays featuring Charles Lindbergh’s face were distributed. The building was just one of several “modern” buildings built just prior to the market crash of 1929: Travelers Hotel (Faust) 1927, Comal Power Plant (Landmark) 1926, Greyhound Bus Station (Celebrations) 1929, Booker T. Washington School 1929, and the old City Hall 1929, to name a few.

All three of Ludewig’s sons helped in the store. Local competitors included Jahn Furniture Co., Lack’s Furniture & Automotive, and Starke’s Furniture in Seguin. Ludewig’s sold all kinds of high-quality manufactured furniture that included kitchen, living and bedroom pieces. To promote their company, C.J.’s son, Monroe F. “Fatty” Ludewig, began giving out “little Lane cedar chests” to graduating senior girls in New Braunfels. I still have mine!

When the Ludewig fam­ily de­cided to get out of the busi­ness, they leased the 1929 fur­ni­ture build­ing and the old Du­Me­nil store to Wal­lace and Dorothy John­son in 1966, who con­tin­ued to run the busi­ness un­der the name John­son Fur­ni­ture Co. In 1972, the John­sons bought the prop­erty out­right. In 1984, the old Du­Me­nil Store was sold and moved to Gruene (Hunter Junc­tion) where it sur­vives.

Wal­lace and Dorothy’s daugh­ter Carol pur­chased the prop­erty from her par­ents in 1989 and runs the John­son Fur­ni­ture store to­day. She con­tin­ues the legacy of pro­vid­ing qual­ity fur­ni­ture and decor to New Braun­fels cit­i­zens that be­gan on Lot 89 over 120 years ago.

If you have never been in­side this his­toric fam­ily busi­ness, you have a chance to prac­tice yoga in it on Thurs­day, Oc­to­ber 10, 2024, from 5:30–7 p.m. The $15 fee ben­e­fits the So­phien­burg Mu­seum & Archives. Fol­low­ing prac­tice, a bev­er­age and his­tory talk will let you ex­plore the build­ing.

If you are not into yoga, drop by the store, say hello and check out all the good stuff. Carol’s got a chair, bed or table that is bound to have your name on it.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives: Ludewig, Floege and DuMenil family histories; Reflections program #918-Monroe C. Ludewig; New Braunfels Herald and Neu Braunfelser Herald newspaper collections.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

I blink my eyes and the town is growing, changing, faster than ever before. That is why I’m drawn to write about the houses and downtown buildings that were old and classic when I was a child. These buildings have connections to people. I want others to know the importance of those connections and for the history to be recorded. Today, we also talk cars.

If you were to look around our ever-expanding New Braunfels today, one could count approximately seven car dealerships. Back in 1949, when the community was much, much smaller, there were actually thirteen dealerships. The Chrysler Dodge dealership was begun in New Braunfels by the Becker family ninety years ago.

August B. Becker, originally from Frelsburg, Texas, moved his family to Seguin in 1921 to run a dairy farm. While in Seguin, he worked for Seguin Motor Company. Becker Motor Company, known then as Becker Chevrolet, was founded on November 16, 1928, by August and his son-in-law, Louis Niemeyer. It was originally the holder of the Chevrolet dealership, which they bought from Jess Sippel. Becker Chevrolet was located in the Forshage Building at 474 W. San Antonio St. Earlier in the year, I told you about the historic Holz-Forshage-Krueger building on W. San Antonio St. and the long line of automobile dealerships that filled its spaces. Becker was there for five years.

August Becker did well with the Chevrolet brand, but he did not like that General Motors required all financing be done through them. He also took issue with GM’s practice of sending cars to the dealer whether they wanted them or not. In 1932, Chevrolet shipped sixty new cars just as the new 1933 model was coming out. The Becker sales staff went door to door in a thirty-mile radius of New Braunfels until all the units were sold. It was the last straw for August Becker and the Chevrolet franchise was sold to the Kruegers in September of 1933.

When the Beckers were trying to decide what franchise to seek out, the agent for the Dodge Division of Chrysler Corporation loaned them a demonstrator for a week, which sealed the decision for Dodge. Upon taking the Dodge franchise, Becker Motor Company moved to the Baetge Garage on South Seguin Avenue. It was located where the Wright Building now stands across from Naegelin’s Bakery.

In 1935, Becker Motor Company moved down the street to 300 South Seguin Avenue, which is now a parking lot for First Protestant Church. About this same time, Niemeyer was bought out by August Becker’s son, Walter. Sometime later, August’s other sons Leroy and George also joined the partnership. The building that they occupied on the corner of South Seguin and Coll Street was owned by Marvin Jarisch. At the end of World War II, Jarisch obtained the Kaiser/Frasier franchise (predecessor of Jeep) and wanted his building back.

Property was purchased at 547 South Seguin Ave. from Mr. Silvers. Being 1945 and the end of the war, building materials were hard to come by. They constructed the new Dodge dealership out of material salvaged from the demolition of two warehouses at the Landa Mill’s property adjacent to Landa Park. Concrete blocks were not available, so they were made at the building site. Who would ever suspect that sparkling white/gray stucco building was made from salvaged materials? The basic design of the building was sound and has served well for more than 75 years.

The dealership continued to change and grow. In 1946, returning veteran George E. Becker bought into the business. In 1957, August Becker, the founder, passed away. In 1959, they added the DeSoto franchise, but by 1961, it was out of production. In 1966, Walter and George E. Becker bought out their brother, Leroy.

Becker obtained the Chrysler/Plymouth franchise when Ruppel Auto Co. (just a couple of doors down from them) went out of business in 1972. In 1973, the partnership reorganized as a corporation with Walter Becker, brother George Becker and Walter’s son, Arno. After Walter retired, his daughter Cora Jane Becker Welsch and her husband Fritz Welsch became stockholders.

Becker Motor Company has grown, survived a couple of fuel crises and the near bankruptcy of Chrysler Corporation. Yet, it was still consistently a recipient of the Five Star Achievement Award for 34 years. On October 22, 2001, after 73 years, Becker Motor Company signed a Buy-Sell Contract with Kahlig Enterprises.

On March 4, 2002, Bluebonnet Chrysler Dodge opened their doors in the Becker building. They embraced the community, the history, and even the iconic blue and white neon sign greeting customers. They have continued to grow, taking over the old dental office next door and filling the showroom floor with office cubicles. Bluebonnet has even continued the tradition of super achievements, ranking number one in RAM truck sales nationally. Now it is their turn to move. Bluebonnet Chrysler Dodge RAM has purchased ten acres between I-35 and Old 81 to continue what the Becker family began.

I hope the old WWII era building and its iconic blue and white sign will still be loved after they leave.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; Wes Studdard, Bluebonnet Motors.

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Keva Hoffmann Boardman –

Soda pop? Soft drink? Soda water? My family just says “soda.” Whatever you call it, the soft drink industry is huge. When did New Braunfelsers first get a taste for the sugary yet satisfying beverage?

As early as 1872, Otto and Theo. Simon were bottling ice cold soda at their home. They bought a new ice machine in 1875 and, with partner L. Paggi, they opened and ran an ice cream/soda water parlour until 1881. Imagine how amazing an ice cold soda was back in the days of no air conditioning and dusty streets.

Others soon jumped into the increasingly popular drink business. Dr. Grube teamed up with Bruno Voelcker to start their own soda water factory in 1881 but it was short-lived.

Eduard Naegelin Sr. (Naegelin’s Bakery opened in 1868) added soda water, candies, cigars and ice to his bakery enterprise in 1883. According to his grandson, C. F. “Buddy” Naegelin, Eduard also had a license to produce wine. He used 50-gallon barrels and sold one gallon bottles for 25 cents to 50 cents. Now we’re talking!

Naegelin bottled “Squeeze” brand soda waters and IronBrew. IronBrew tasted a bit like a full-bodied cream soda and sported a label of a man with his arm raised showing off his bicep. Several New Braunfels doctors are said to have prescribed IronBrew to their anemic patients. I can’t verify its efficacy.

“Squeeze” brand syrups, used in Naegelin’s soda water, were mainly citrus and fruit flavors like lemon, lemon-lime and orange. A case of bottled soda sold for 40 cents. Naegelin made his own ginger flavor to bottle ginger ale. In those days, ginger ale was a seasonal drink for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

Naegelin handed the bakery/bottling business over to his son, Edward Jr., in 1924. The bottling business was kept until the building was remodeled in 1937.

Back in 1886, John Sippel opened St. John’s Bottling Works. No one remembers why, but people called John Sippel, St. John, and so the company got that name. Sippel bottled soft drinks of all flavors and a seltzer (sparkling water) called Sippel’s Water. St John’s Bottling Works was first located on the property where the old Main Fire Station stands. Sippel also acquired the Anheuser-Busch beer franchise for the area.

In 1894, St John’s Bottling was put up for sale. Robert Posey bought it at auction in 1903. He sold the business to the Neuse brothers in 1906 who moved it to the corner of Castell and Church (Coll) streets. At this time, there were three bottling works in New Braunfels: St John’s, Naegelin’s and Feltner’s Comal Crown.

Albert Staats bought St. John’s from the Neuse’s and turned around and sold it to his brothers Edwin and Walter in 1914. The Staats’ sold soda and seltzer water. (Seltzer water could be bought and taken home to make your own flavored soda or ice cream sodas.) Trade was brisk. They were selling to 20 local saloons. Their top flavors were “Cherry Blossoms” and “Orange Julep”. Naegelin’s was selling “Orange Squeeze”. Feltner had sold Comal Crown to Hugo Weidner who had franchised “Orange Crush.” Apparently, orange was popular.

The Staats brothers obtained the coveted Coca Cola franchise in 1915. Basically, soda water is a flavoring syrup mixed with carbonated H20 which is capped to keep in the fizz. Edwin Staats reported that in the first year he bottled Coca Cola, he used less than one 55-gallon drum of syrup; by the time he sold the bottling business in 1972, he was using three 55-gallon drums of syrup each day. In 1921, the company was moved to 203 S. Castell. Edwin bought out his brother Walter in 1932; Walter became NBFD fire chief and fire marshal.

Lucky for me, a born and raised Texan, the Weidner’s Orange Crush Bottling Works obtained the franchise for Dr Pepper and became the Dr Pepper Bottling Works. They bottled that “nectar of the gods” for New Braunfelsers. In 1963, Edwin Staats also bought this franchise and boosted his soda water sales by 30 percent that year.

Edwin Staats provided a few aneccdotes to the NBHerald in 1966. Staats would take orders for ginger ale prior to the holidays. Harry Wagenfuehr (Pearl Beer distributor) would delay returning empties to the brewery and loan the bottles to Edwin for use. These were picked up after the holidays and returned to Wagenfuehr and THEN back to the brewery in San Antonio.

Staats also explained about the old bottles. A spring stopper was attached to the bottle and was put into place when the bottle was filled (so you could refill it). The popping sound it made when opening inspired the term “soda pop”.

And speaking about “pop” … My kids made root beer once. All the filled capped bottles went into the pantry cupboard to process. Several weeks later, what sounded like a gunfight came out of the pantry. The entire experiment ended up coating the two bottom shelves with a sticky brown liquid.

At least it did taste like root beer.

Sources: “Reflections” oral history recordings: #80 – Buddy Naegelin; #209 – Preston Staats; #180 – Homuth “Lops” Weidner 100th Anniversary edition of the New Braunfelser Zeitung, Vol. 100, No. 53; NB Herald – Dec 29, 1966, “Edwin Staats Celebrates 50 Years of Coca Cola”.

Photo Caption: Robert Posey, right, looks over damage to St. John’s Bottling Works after severe freeze on Feb 13, 1905.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

We have become somewhat accustomed to seeing motor homes, mobile homes, and tiny homes as they move down the highway to their new resting place. However, seeing a stucco building moving through downtown is more of a spectacle. That is exactly what I saw one morning in December.

As I watched the building moving along Comal Street, it brought to mind photos of the Joseph Faust home being moved to make way for a new hotel in 1929 (currently Faust Hotel). The home, a three-story classical revival beauty, was stripped of its bricks and rolled down the muddy South Seguin Avenue to its current location at 305 S. Seguin. (Read more on that story online in Around The Sophienburg November 30, 2010.)

So why move an entire downtown building deemed insignificant to save? The answers (and ultimately more questions) lie in the history. At the beginning of our story, Harry and Helena Landa purchased milling interests in New Braunfels. They developed an enterprise which became the forerunners of Dittlinger Feed & Flour Mills (now ADM Milling) and Servtex Materials (Parker Brothers and CEMEX). Their grand estate became Landa Park and the Highlands Addition on the Hill. They also owned many properties in town. The Landa homestead, about two acres, was situated between East San Antonio Street and Mill Street and behind the Courthouse and other business properties facing Seguin Avenue. In 1851, Joseph built his bride a nice wooden home, complete with outbuildings, along with the Landa Store that sat on the corner of Main Plaza and E. San Antonio. In 1891, their son, Harry Landa, razed the home and built a grand mansion for his parents on the same site (now Comal County Landa Annex). The Landa businesses continued to operate and grow under Helena and son, Harry, after the death of Joseph in 1896. Helena died in 1912, leaving her estate to Harry and his four sisters. The terms of her will ordered the sale of the property ten years after her death.

Okay, so on with the little building. Harry married in 1913 and continued to live in the Landa Mansion. Sometime about 1925-26, Harry built a 22’ x 42’ stucco office building located at 173 E. San Antonio St. directly behind the Landa store. It had windows all around, along with doors on the front & back. It also had a side door to slip into the big store through the alley. So, why would you build a new building on property that had to be sold?

The Landa Milling Company was finally sold in June of 1926. In reading a copy of the will, it explains that only the business properties had to be sold. There were other tracts of land bequeathed to each of the children/heirs that were not included in the “ten year” requirement. Harry received the two-acre main plaza property from his mother. I suspect that Harry may have built the building for his own personal office as his office phone was listed at the 173 address in 1928. He had posted “new stucco store for rent” for the same address.

In January of 1929, the Herald announced that the City Library was being moved from the corner Landa store to another location. Harry completely re-did the big store to accommodate Montgomery Ward in a long-term lease (which lasted less than a year due to the Crash). The stucco building behind Montgomery Ward, the Landa residence and Mill St. cottage were listed for rent. Harry Landa died in 1951. His holdings around Main Plaza were sold in 1954 to Jac Eisenberg (owner of Eisenberg Furniture in old Montgomery Ward Store). He then old the properties to First Federal Savings & Loan in 1957. First Federal occupied the Landa Mansion from 1948 until they moved into the renovated corner building in 1958. The mansion was torn down in 1964.

A myriad of entities rented the little stucco building through the years. The Landas hosted the Public Library at 173 E. San Antonio in 1931, before it moved to the Sophienburg Museum in 1933. In 1940, Tip Top Cleaners occupied the building. And as a side note, Fred and Maria Luna and Modern Beauty Salon were listed in the adjacent fachwerk building at 189 E. San Antonio (now gone). In the late ‘40s, the stucco building was the site of the Casa Blanca Café & Bakery, also associated with the Maria Luna Meza family.

In the ‘50s, it housed Comal Insurance, Hoppe School of Music and Guadalupe Valley Memorial Park sales office. In 1966, the building was remodeled with the memorable tile and mansard roof. Modern Beauty Salon and owner Maria Meza, became the longest resident of that address. Somewhat like the Landas, Maria Mena Luna Meza established her own family enterprise and legacy. As a young woman, she began her first hair salon in January of 1935. She opened Modern Beauty Salon two doors down in 207 E. San Antonio. The shop moved to the 189 address, operating there for about twenty-six years before moving into the 173 address, which lasted about fifty-four years. Eighty-five years of Modern Beauty Salon, plus all of the other family café’s, bakeries and homes that took place in that one little strip of downtown New Braunfels, is quite a legacy, which has almost all been demolished in the name of progress. The little stucco building, built by one ambitious merchant and taken up by another ambitious business owner, was worth saving!

On the cold, drizzly morning of December 15, 2020, the little stucco building was loaded onto a specialized trailer, like a giant pallet jack. They estimated the weight to be about 35,000 pounds. Surprise! It was more like 85,000 pounds. The little building made its way down Comal Street, made the corner at Coll Street, and on to its new spot, right behind Dr. Fred Frueholz’ stately home located at 305 S. Seguin. See how I did that? The building will be restored and used for historical education. We are beyond grateful to those involved in the restoration.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; Around the Sophienburg by Myra Lee Goff

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman

Some stories seem to write themselves. Not this one. I have struggled with this story for over 2 years. On the morning of Thursday, Sept. 13, 1923, nine-year-old Irene Hitzfelder was brutally killed by sixteen year-old Clarke Coffield.

Irene, the daughter of Herman and Wanda nee Pfeuffer Hitzfelder, had left her home around eight o’clock. She rode her horse “Charlie” down the road towards the Spring Branch school house. By 9 o’clock, she was lying, dead, in a clump of bushes about 200 yards off the road — the left side of her skull shattered in pieces.

Clarke, the stepson of James and Melitta Coffield, left his home that morning to hunt for turkeys. By lunchtime, he was taken into custody for the murder and assault of Irene.

The Spring Branch community, 25 miles northwest of New Braunfels, had been settled by Germans. They were farmers and ranchers with familial ties to New Braunfels. It was a close-knit settlement where people knew their neighbors. The Hitzfelders had a large prosperous ranch; Irene was their only child.

Clarke’s family had moved to Spring Branch when his mother married his stepdad. James Coffield had a small farm which he augmented with funds from cedar chopping and charcoal burning. The newspaper sources I read make me believe that the Coffield’s were considered “lower class.”

The events of the murder, spelled out in detail in dozens of news publications across the US, went like this.

Irene never made it to school. At 10 o’clock recess, nine year-old classmate Valeska Bindseil told her teacher that she had seen Irene’s horse tied to a fence post on the road. 13 year-old Lawrence Knibbe was sent over to his father’s store to phone the Hitzfelder and report her missing.

Henry Bender, a neighboring rancher waiting for his mail, grabbed Lawrence and drove to find the horse. Near the animal, the wire fencing had been lifted and there were two sets of barefoot prints that led towards the Coffield home. Bender and Lawrence drove to the house and found Mrs. Coffield and Clarke. Wet clothes hung on the wash line and Clarke’s clothes were damp.

Bender asked Clarke to join them in looking for Irene in the area between the Coffield home and the horse. Other neighbors, including Irene’s father, joined the search party. Clarke suggested they call out for the girl.

It was Mr. Hitzfelder and Bender who found the child in a clump of bushes — face up, arms outstretched, clothing in disarray. Next to her shattered head was a blood-stained rock the size of two fists. A second stained rock was found seven yards away. Following a trail of blood drops, a third rock was found lying on top of a tangle of barefoot prints that indicated a struggle. Two sets of prints led to this spot: the small set was in front with deep heel marks and the larger set followed close behind as if one person was pushing the other forward.

Bender compared Irene’s foot to the small print and Sheriff Peter Nowotny put Clarke’s foot next to the larger print — both matched perfectly. Clarke immediately claimed his innocence, but when Sheriff Nowotny took him to the body, he confessed his guilt and was secured. The men of the search party, understandably incensed over what they saw, tried to take Clarke by force. Knives were drawn, but Sheriff Nowotny kept a cool head and with the help of Bender got Clarke unharmed into his car. He took Clarke to the Comal County jail. The tragic news spread quickly and fearing trouble from the citizens of NB, Nowotny secretly moved Clarke to the Bexar County jail in San Antonio.

Dr. Rennie Wright was called out to the scene of the crime. After examining the body, he stated that she died of a massive head wound and that there were definitely signs of assault but that he felt certain it had occurred after death.

Later that evening, Clarke sent for Sheriff Nowotny to come and take his confession. Clarke is reported to have confessed that he killed Irene but did not assault her. He had thrown a rock and accidently hit her, wounding her badly on the head. He killed her instead of letting her remain in pain.

It gets a little weird here.

By Friday morning, Clarke’s written confession said, “…after looking for turkeys I grabbed her by the shoulders … we struggled … I released her, grabbed up a rock and threw it hitting her in the head. After assaulting her I killed her with a rock then went to a small pool of water and washed the blood off… I told my mother I had killed a jack rabbit.”

On Friday, Sheriff Nowotny drove Clarke back to NB for the indictment and then returned him to the Bexar County jail to await trial. I found two references to Clarke’s incarceration. One, he asked for a photo of Irene; I think this is pure journalistic fabrication. Two, a Kelly Field woman heard Clarke had asked for clothing and left a package at the jail for him. She said she thought the boy was not in his right mind and would probably be punished severely. She could see no reason for him to be uncomfortable. The package contained: 2 shirts, underwear, socks, a tie, collars, tooth brush and paste, soap and towels, a Bible and a $5 check.

Coffield’s trial was set for some time in February 1924. There was confusion over Clarke’s true age. Clarke and his mother said his birthday was Feb. 11, 1907, but no birth certificate could be located in Houston. This became a big deal. Under Texas law, if Clarke were tried before he was 17, he could only be sent to reform school; if he was tried after that age, because of his confession, he could be given life imprisonment but not executed.

The trial took place on Feb. 13, 1924 — after Clarke had turned 17 — with accounts saying it was not manipulated that way. He was assigned Frank B. Voigt of New Braunfels as his attorney. This was Voigt’s very first trial. Jury selection began at 10:15 and the jury, composed of 6 farmers and 6 businessmen, were sworn in at 12:15. The trial began at 1:15 and was concluded at 4:10. It took the jury a mere four minutes to decide Clarke’s penalty — life imprisonment.

Clarke was sent to Huntsville. He died of congestive heart failure on Jun 13, 1966, and was buried in the Blanco Cemetery.

Irene was buried Friday, Sept. 14, 1923, in Spring Branch, with Pastor Mornhinweg officiating. All the children of Spring Branch School attended with their teacher. Mrs. Hitzfelder gave birth to another little girl, Joyce, on Feb. 25, 1924 — just 12 days after the trial. She died of complications following appendicitis surgery on Oct 20, 1934. She was ten years old.

I told you this was a tough tale to tell.

Sources: “Reflections” interview #970, Mrs. Valeska Bindseil Heimer, Sophienburg Museum & Archives; Newspapers: NB Herald, Sept. 15, 1923; Sept. 21, 1923; Feb. 22, 1924; Mar 7, 1924; NB Zeitung, Sept. 13, 1923; Feb. 21, 1924; SA Light, Sept. 14, 1923; Feb. 12, 1924; Feb. 15, 1924’ Feb. 16, 1924; SA Express, Sept. 14, 1923; Sept. 15, 1923; Sept. 16, 1923; Feb. 16, 1923; The Junction Eagle, Sept. 21, 1923; The Chillicote Constitution, MO, Sept. 18, 1923; Sept. 19, 1923; The Evening Independent, OH, Sept. 13, 1923; The Daily Record, Weatherford, Sept. 14, 1923; The Ada Evening News, OK, Sept. 14, 1923; US Census 1930, 1940; Texas Convict and Conduct Registers 1875-1945; www.ancestry.com, www.findagrave.com

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Kids of all ages gravitate to superheroes. I come from a time when the superhero list was relatively short: Superman, Mighty Mouse and Sky King. My favorite was Sky King, of course. But my real heroes — the ones I pretended to be in the backyard with all my neighborhood friends — were firemen. When your family members and your friends’ family members are firemen, it seems kind of a natural thing to play. Perhaps that’s why I find the history of the New Braunfels Fire Department fascinating.

Back in January 2017, Myra Lee Adams Goff covered the early history of the fire department (from 1874 up to about 1918) in her Around the Sophienburg article, “New Braunfels Fire Department — years of service”. In 1918, the city built and outfitted a new state of the art fire station, complete with three engine bays and sleeping quarters upstairs for the first paid firemen. That station became known as Central Station. It was the heartbeat of the firefighting community, for both paid men and volunteers. As a child, Central Station WAS the fire station to me. It held the shiny red engines in its neatly painted bays with pressed tin ceilings. The bay doors were almost always open and the firemen would often sit on the metal benches out front. This station also had a tower with a siren that went off exactly at noon every day without fail (or some poor young fireman would catch heck). That siren was the signal that my Opa would be home for lunch in 5 minutes. The tower isn’t there anymore, but the original 1918 station stands ready right next to the new Central Station. That building, located at 131 Hill Ave. is now the Fire Department Museum, and you can see all the cool history inside.

As New Braunfels grew, so did the need to protect the city. A community’s fire rating (insurance rate) is based on the building codes and the fire department’s ability to reach and extinguish a fire in the shortest amount of time. In 1931, the city saw fit to build Station No. 2., the one-story building that stood on the corner of Coll and Sycamore (next to the water tower) enabling fire coverage without having to wait for a train. The station originally housed one truck (the 1913 American LaFrance moved from Central Station) and two firemen with their families. Yes, families. R. Ebensberger and Hilmar Voigt were the first to occupy the station with family living quarters. Hilmar H. H. Chili Voigt was my Opa. He and my Oma moved in for a short time when my aunt was 11 and my uncle was 5. The station was replaced with the current Station No. 2. located on Loop 337 near Solms in 1975.

Station No. 3 was in Comaltown which was annexed by New Braunfels in 1868. Comal did have a fire house on N. Houston Ave. near where Lamar school is now, but it was torn down in 1925.

In 1950 the city bought and refurbished a 2-story building on the corner of Union and Garza (now Christus’ parking lot). The building had housed Simon’s Garage & Service Station on one end and Dolle’s Saloon on the other with the Hermann Son’s Lodge upstairs. From 1925 — 1950, fire protection had to come from Central Station across the Comal River. Station No. 3 remained in service until 1983 when the current station was built on Hanz Lane.

The city passed a bond in 1968 that built Station No. 4 on Kerlick Lane. It came online in 1970, went out of service for a while and then came back into service. The current Station No. 4 was built on Alyssa Way in 2012. Stations 5 and 6 are relatively new. No. 5 was built on County Line Road before 2006 and No. 6, on Stone Gate, came online in 2008.

To give you an idea of the department’s growth, in 1918, the department operated with three to four paid men and four companies of 15 volunteers each. By 1973, there were 28 paid men and 60 volunteers. Today there are 135 paid firefighters. The volunteer organization dissolved in the early 2000’s.

My Opa started with the fire department as a volunteer in about 1922. He became a ‘paid man’ in 1931, made Assistant Chief in 1958 and retired as Fire Marshal in 1966 after 35 years on the job. He also was a house painter/paper hanger, as most firemen needed a second job to make ends meet. Both my dad and uncle were members and officers of the New Braunfels Volunteer Fire Department for over 20 years, as were many of their friends. It was a way to give back to your community. The “hero games” we played as kids revolved around what we heard and saw. We pretended that the “Plectron” would go off (an electronic notification system at each volunteer captain’s house). One of us would jump on the “truck” (bicycle) and the other would stay by the phone, activating the “phone tree.” We also practiced for Pumper Races with the garden hose. As we got older, we took pride in being able to identify any firetruck coming our way—without seeing it, just by the sound of its siren. My favorite story about Central Station involved my Opa and my uncle. During WWII my uncle had joined the Army and, after completing basic in San Antonio, the soldiers shipped out by train. No one was allowed to notify family of their new orders or duty stations. My uncle knew that the train would pass right in front of the fire station, where the men sometimes sat out front on benches. He wrote on a rock he had picked up before boarding. Just as the train pulled through downtown New Braunfels, he stepped out onto the platform and threw the rock towards the fire station. My Opa no longer worried about my uncle going overseas. The rock said, “Aberdeen, Maryland.”

Firemen were — and are — a brotherhood. They risk their lives daily to protect the community, buildings, and people from fire, flood and disaster. They work hard and play hard, but they alone know what they see in their work and they carry it with them. THEY are my heroes and their history lives in the 1918 Central Fire Station. She looks pretty grand for 100 years old.

Sources:

• Sophienburg Archives
• New Braunfels Herald
• Sophienburg “Reflections”
• New Braunfels Fire Department

The post Heroes and history appeared first on Sophies Shop.

There is one historian’s name in New Braunfels that is mentioned over and over. After writing this column for the last nine years, and writing a few books, I can’t begin to tell you how many times his name is mentioned as a writer or a translator. Somehow the name slips in there before you know it. The person to whom I refer, is Oscar Haas.

Haas’ material is widely used and the Sophienburg has a vast collection of his papers, published and unpublished. As far as historical writers, the same can be said for Hermann Seele and Jacob Lindheimer but not to the extent of Oscar Haas’ contribution.

Sophienburg volunteer, Ralph Koch, is presently going through and organizing material from the Oscar Haas collection.

Oscar Haas was born on October 12, 1885, on a farm in Cranes Mill in Comal County. He was the oldest child of Ernst Georg Haas and Ottilie Rochau Haas. Both families were German immigrants. The families had moved to the Cranes Mill “mountains” soon after the Civil War. The farm is 16 miles west of New Braunfels and now is under the water of Canyon Lake.

Haas spent much of his early childhood on the Little Blanco River in Blanco County. He attended a little country school called the Twin Sisters School.

In 1897, the family moved to New Braunfels and he started the third grade at the New Braunfels Academy on Mill St. Right after finishing the sixth grade at this school, he began working for druggist August Forke. Forke owned the pharmacy and this building is the famous Forke Store now located at Conservation Plaza. I say famous because so many NB events have been held in this building with its old floors that retain its old atmosphere.

Obviously Oscar Haas was a bright, curious boy. Riding his bicycle along country roads, he would sketch buildings and people. The Sophienburg Museum has a large collection of Native American arrowheads that he gathered mostly in the Landa Park area. It is a beautiful mounted collection hanging in the Native American exhibit and contains spear points, flint knives, scrapers as well as the arrowheads.

In 1918 Oscar married Clara Amelia Conring and eventually she became a partner with him in his search for the history that both of them came to love.

As a young man he worked for the large mercantile store of Pfeuffer and Holm as a salesman of men’s clothing. This led to a brief partnership in the retail clothing and dry goods business. His store was directly across from the First Protestant Church and the building was eventually moved to Gruene.

A real break in Haas’ life occurred when he was elected county treasurer in 1934, a position he held for 28 years. By 1940 he had begun the discovery, collection and translation of old county records in the courthouse. Around that time, courthouses all over the state began getting rid of old records because of crowded conditions. There was a feeling that these records had no value, but Haas knew better. He saved the county records and had them recorded in the Texas State Archives. It was from these records that he began writing articles for publication in the New Braunfels Zeitung and the New Braunfels Herald. He wrote a column called “Know Comal County” in which he translated the old Commissioners Court records from German to English. Starting with the year 1846, he revealed to the current population of the county what had happened 100 years earlier. This series ran for three years in both newspapers. Following this series was another series called “99 and 100 Years Ago in New Braunfels.”

Hermann Seele was an early writer who wrote history and stories about New Braunfels. Seele arrived in the settlement in May of 1845. His recollections gave us complete descriptions of those early years. Of course, they were written in German, but Haas could translate them. An important literary work that Haas translated was Seele’s “Die Cypress”, a collection of non-fictional and fictional stories. This book makes excellent reading and can be purchased at Sophie’s Shop at the Sophienburg.

Another translation by Haas was Fritz Goldbeck’s historic poems describing New Braunfels. This to me was a very difficult translation, as it is hard to translate poetry from one language to another. Next came the translation of Prince Carl’s papers in which he recorded everything about the colonization project. Now just imagine this project. He translated the German “Fraktur”, the German equivalent of English script. Most of the German letters don’t even look like the English letters. I will say this, however, he probably learned this script at the country school at Twin Sisters. My dad learned this Fraktur going to school in the country, but my mother did not. She went to school in NB where she was taught English and German was a second language.

In 1961 Clara Haas joined her husband in his next venture, a series of 144 installments for the New Braunfels Zeitung. It was “Comal County in the Civil War” translated from the writings of Ferdinand Lindheimer. These translations were in the newspapers in the 1960s.

Retiring from the position of county treasurer in order to work on his large collection of historic materials, he began work on producing the history book “History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas; 1844-1946.” This book, published in 1968, is for sale at Sophie’s Shop and has become the #1 aid to historians researching history of the area.

Other publications were: “The First Protestant Church, Its History and its People 1845-1955”; also a translation of the Civil War Diary of Capt. Julius Giesecke and “History of the Singers and German Songs of Texas.”

All of this activity in writing did not go without reward. Early on, Haas was honored with several awards. The Historical Society of the Evangelical and Reformed Church honored him for historic church writing and the San Antonio Conservation Society History Award was given to him in 1966. Last, the Comal County Chamber of Commerce honored him with their annual Besserung Award for Outstanding Community Service.

Much of the information for this article was gathered from writings by Brenda Anderson Lindemann, Crystal Sasse Ragsdale and the Dolph Briscoe Center of American History, the University of Texas, Austin.

Oscar Haas died in 1981, but his accomplishments will live on for as long as there is a need for history.

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Ron Snider has been awarded the Dr. Frederick Frueholz Comal County Historical Commission Award for his work in the restoration and preservation of downtown New Braunfels buildings. In the 1960s a trend of tearing down old buildings, remodeling them into modern buildings or using the property for parking lots caused the loss of many beautiful homes and business buildings downtown. This trend seemed to be growing but when civic minded people became aware of the trend, conservation groups began to pop up to save what was still left of the irreplaceable buildings.

Often it takes people from the outside to really see the value of what you have. Ron Snider was one of those people. Snider and his family moved to New Braunfels in1982 when he began a business called GYM-N-I, building wooden playground equipment. It was a good, safe and welcome business in New Braunfels. For years parents had been aware of the danger of certain metal playground equipment, especially on the school playground. One by one, these iron swings, slides and merry-go-rounds had been removed.

Snider grew up inner city but both his grandfathers lived on farms so he liked small towns. He had German roots and he chose New Braunfels to live in. With a background of ten years as a salesman for Lane Furniture, traveling to small towns made him aware of what was happening to downtowns especially the business districts. Beginning with the first purchase in 1996 by Snider and Darrell Sollberger under the name of S&S Properties and then with Dr. Frank Hampel as S&H Properties, he renovated eight buildings in the downtown area, built from early 1900s to the latest in the 1940s.

Seekatz Opera House

The first building to be renovated at 265 W. San Antonio St. was the Seekatz Opera House built in 1901. It was a big success as an events center, badly needed by the town. This building was severely damaged by a fire in 1941. By that time it had become the Cole Movie Theater. After that it became a clothing store but it never became what it was in its prime. After seven years of renovation, the Seekatz Opera House has once again become an important events center in downtown.

The Seekatz Opera House had a long history in downtown. In the late 1800s Louis and Otto Seekatz saw a need for a building with a stage and auditorium style seating, mostly for the traveling shows that came through town and local events such as New Year’s Eve Dances, July 4 Celebrations, Firemen’s Dances and Kindermaskenball.

Richter Buildings 1910 and 1920

In 1998 S&S purchased the two R.B. Richter buildings. These buildings had some renovations done by Ernie Lambert and Luke Speckman and the upstairs apartment had already been renovated when the purchase was made. The complicated history of these two buildings was given to me by researcher David Hartmann who knows more about the Richters than they do. Richter set up his first pharmacy at 143 W. San Antonio St. (next to the Phoenix) in 1901 and then ten years later in 1910 moved across the street to 142 W. San Antonio St. where there had been a one-story saloon. A. Moeller began construction of the building housing the pharmacy and a second floor that became the residence of R.B. and Emilie Weilbacher Richter.

Now the second Richter 1920 building. Next door at 168 W. San Antonio St. was a fachwerk house and in 1915 Richter bought the property and tore the house down. On this lot an L shaped brick wall was constructed with a large wooden floor. The back wall was plastered white and chairs were set up for an open-air theater showing silent movies. During the day, the floor was used as a roller skating rink. In 1920 the building was enclosed and a second story was added and rented out to doctors and attorneys. Downstairs was Oscar Haas Mercantile, Richters Grocery, B.F. Goodrich and Tom Oliver’s clothing store.

Palace Theater

The next purchase in partnership with Dr. Frank Hampel was a series of three connected buildings that few here can still remember. Located in the 100 block of N. Castell Ave., one of the three buildings was originally the Palace Theater, a movie theater whose grand opening was Dec. 23, 1924. Records show that it was built by A.C. Moeller (my grandfather) and Herman Moeller, his brother. The theater didn’t last long and closed in 1932, possibly because of the Depression. At that time it became the home of Ma’s Café. This café was a favorite of locals run by Ma Bloedorn and her son, Schimmel. It finally closed in 1982 after 50 years. Now these buildings are the upscale Myrons Prime Steakhouse and the Blue Artichoke.

Bingo Café

The next purchase in 2004 by S&S was the former Hinman’s Bingo Café at 277 W. San Antonio St. Homer Hinman owned many cafés on San Antonio St. He actually began his business at the age of 14 when he drove a wagon to Landa Park and sold 5cent hamburgers from a grill that he had on a wagon. His first indoor café was next to Peerless Drug Store, a very small deli called “Hole in the Wall” from 1912-1915. From 1918 to 1923 he owned the Bingo Café where his wife and two children lived on the second floor. Then from 1923-1926 he purchased the “A” Café, so named so that it could be first in the telephone book. It was across the railroad track on San Antonio St. in front of the Huisache Restaurant. Then in 1926 he ran Homer’s Lunch Bar next to the Bingo Café and then finally from 1932 to 1936 he owned the Longhorn Café across from the Civic Center.

Herald-Zeitung, KGNB/KNBT

The former Herald-Zeitung and KGNB/KNBT building at 188 Castell Ave. was purchased in 2009. This renovation took four years, as there was the relocation of the Salvation Army office involved. Today it houses the restaurant called 188 South, the Blue Moose Pizza, the office of S&H Properties and the Farmer’s Market office.

Historically the Art Deco Style building was built for Claude Scruggs in 1945.This building style was covered up in an imitation German fachwerk style. The New Braunfels Herald newspaper was first published around 1892 and merged with the Zeitung-Chronicle in 1966.The paper was renamed the Herald-Zeitung in 1979.

The Farmer’s Market

The purchase of the Herald building and the ownership of the back of the Seekatz Opera House used for parking led to the very popular Farmer’s Market. Snider built stalls and the market has grown to 60 vendors, usually 30 in winter. Ron Snider through an early influence of both grandfathers who were farmers became interested in this type of business and a recent demand for fresh produce has made this market very popular.

Odyssey of the Mind

Here’s something about Snider that you may not know: He also knows how to build robots. Here’s the story:

In the late 1980s an educational program was entered into for 6^th and 7^th graders called the “Odyssey of the Mind”. OM is an international competition. Student teams are given a problem to solve by using divergent skills, and creativity for the purpose of promoting team efforts. Not only teachers are involved, but parents are a must. A group of seven boys from New Braunfels Middle School chose a problem having to construct an actual robot. Guess who volunteered to help this team. Yes, you have it – Ron Snider. For six months this team met with Snider and they constructed a life-sized robot. When the competition came along, the team won first place locally, then at the regional level and finally the state winner. The next step was the world competition. Teachers, parents, and seven boys flew to the University of Tennessee and won 13th place. This was the first and last time that any New Braunfels team competed in a world competition.

And now, as you could guess, Snider has a “work in progress’. He is renovating the very popular Krause’s Café. Congratulations, Ron, anyone who can put together a robot with 7^th grade boys is destined to continue great things here in New Braunfels.

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